


Insomniac

by GoldFlakes



Category: Legion of Super Heroes (TV), Legion of Super Heroes - All Media Types
Genre: Comfort, Cute, Dreams, F/M, Friends to Lovers, Friendship, Humor, Insomnia, Possibly Slow Burn, Romance, Slice of Life
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-12-29
Updated: 2021-01-05
Packaged: 2021-03-11 02:00:23
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 4,252
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28417251
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/GoldFlakes/pseuds/GoldFlakes
Summary: Shrinking Violet struggles with her sleep schedule and her developing feelings for her fellow legionaire.
Relationships: Brainiac 5/Shrinking Violet, Brin Londo/Tinya Wazzo, Imra Ardeen/Garth Ranzz, Lightning Lad/Saturn Girl, Salu Digby/Querl Dox, Timber Wolf/Phantom Girl
Comments: 2
Kudos: 6





	1. Chapter One

**Author's Note:**

> I wrote this maybe 6 years ago and just happened to stumble across it in boredom, and decided to edit and post.  
> Not expecting a lot of readers because it’s a small fandom and Brainy/Vi is such a rare pair but I appreciate anyone who takes the time to read/comment!

Morning came and Shrinking Violet found herself drowsy and disoriented. When she rolled out of bed she realized she slept through an important meeting. Brainy would be irritated with her, which was really not something she wanted to deal with. She got dressed, halfheartedly brushed through her short bob and she grimaced in the mirror and left to enter the meeting room. No one was there. She missed the entire thing. She left and scoured the halls for the other legionnaires.  
She saw Bouncing Boy bouncing down the hall. She decided to ask him where everyone went. "Hey! Bouncy!"  
He stopped and jumped out into his regular form. "Hey Shrinking Violet. Did you sleep well?"  
She blinked at him. "How did you know-"  
"Kel-el told us this morning. Don't worry. Brainy said to let you sleep. They went off to fight the scavengers. They're stealing security tech from Takron Galtos to try and hack into it, or something. I didn't understand half of the words he used, but that’s nothing new.”  
Oh. They went off without her, and it didn't seem like they were mad. She sighed a sigh of relief. That was unlike Brainy, he was usually such a stickler for everything.  
"Thanks for telling me," she said.  
"No problem. Also, you haven't been drinking caffeine have you?"  
"Caffeine? Me? You know those things don't mix well!" If it wasn't evident in her body language, it was clear in the bags underneath her eyes and the look of death.  
"I know. That's why I'm asking you if you've been drinking caffeine."  
"No of course not-"  
"Violet."  
"I mean, okay. Fine, you got me. I had a bit yesterday."  
"That's why you couldn't sleep."  
"Yeah... Anyways, I won't do it again."  
Bouncy nodded. "Good. You know what happened last time."  
"Let's not think about that," she said sheepishly.  
He laughed. “Okay then. You should get some breakfast, you look pale.”  
“I think that’s just my skin.”  
“Well, you're more pale than usual.”  
“Umm, okay. I guess I’ll go down and see if they are still serving breakfast, I guess now it’s probably lunch. How long was I asleep?”  
“Not that long. It’s noon.”  
“That’s late!”  
“It’s not dinner time late though. Go on. Don’t get any coffee.”  
She laughed nervously, trailing away. “Why would I get coffee? Coffee is for the sleep deprived, I just slept half the day.”  
She was planning on getting coffee again, just not that afternoon.  
She left him in the hallway, scampering down to the dining hall. She knew she was going to be hearing about this later, when everyone got back. She loaded her tray and sat down to eat in the empty room. Wow. It just felt so hollow and large without all the other legionnaires around. The clinking of her silverware, even the sound of her chewing seemed amplified. It echoed around her. She didn’t mind being alone, or being quiet, she even preferred it sometimes but this felt weird. It felt like she was left behind, as she often was. It was her own fault anyways.  
She wondered what Kel had said about her. No one had come to wake her up, so it must have been in her favor. He was curious to her. Even though he was vocal, physical and commanding in presence, he was closed off. Why has he been up at four in the morning anyway? And how was he functioning normally on so little sleep?  
She finished her meal and dumped the remains in the trash, exiting the room. She spent the rest of the day in the lab, absently drawing shapes in a chemical she had spilled. Later she went back to her room to rest again. She always felt sleepy even when she slept in like this… it was a never ending cycle.  
She laid down in her bed in the corner of her room and kicked off her shoes, her tights, and pulled the flower from her hair. She slept on top of her sheets without changing her clothes or washing her face. It was only about seven in the evening, and her friends still hadn’t returned. She woke up at twelve, feeling wide awake. Not this again. This never ending cycle of sleeping at the wrong time and messing up her internal clock. Time seemed endless, uncontrolled. This loneliness felt just as eternal.  
All it took was one stupid night to throw her off.  
She had to get herself together. What if Imperiex attacked when she was sleeping, or when she was too fatigued to do anything about it?  
Again she got up to wander the halls, but this time there were more people who were still awake. It was only midnight. As she stepped out into the hallway, she saw a thin body that held the shimmering icy blue uniform of Dream Girl, that curling, snowy hair swaying as she walked. That didn’t surprise her much, because of course a superhero who specialized in dreams wouldn’t have a regular sleep schedule. Violet followed the back of her pearly white head, opening her mouth to speak. “Nura?”  
She turned around, flashing a small smile. She blinked crystal clear grey-blue eyes. “Yes?”  
Violet looked down at her feet with embarrassment. “Ahh, I was wondering if you’d be able to help me with a problem I was having.”  
“Sure. What kind of problem?”  
“It has to do with sleep. I’ve been fighting it a lot lately.”  
“Struggling with sleep? Because of bad dreams or what?”  
She shook her head. “No, not because of dreams. I actually haven’t dreamt anything in a long time...is that bad?”  
“No, that’s normal. Some people never remember their dreams. Some people remember them vividly. It depends on the person.”  
“Okay, but my problem is that my body refuses to sleep when it’s supposed to and when it’s not… well that’s when I collapse.”  
“Is that what Kel-el was talking about today?”  
“What did he say?”  
“That he bumped into you at nearly five AM and you looked like a sleepwalker, except you were awake.”  
“Well that’s true. He wasn’t very nice about it either.”  
Dream girl laughed. “Is he ever nice about anything?”  
“Not really.”  
“How do you want me to help you?”  
“I thought you could give me some advice on how to shift my body back into a normal schedule...or maybe explain why it's acting like this.”  
“I think Saturn girl might be a better person for that. But I do know some things that interrupt sleep. Caffeine, stress, anxiety, even excitement or the feeling of being in love can keep you up. Negative relationships. All that stuff can disturb my sleep. Do you think it’s anything like that?”  
“Caffeine I think. But normally I have trouble sleeping anyways…”  
The coffee was something she drank to aid her in the moods brought on by her frequent insomnia. It only intensified it.  
Dream girl put a hand on her shoulder. “Maybe you just need some time to yourself. Relax. Do something fun. Then maybe your body will be satisfied and let you go to sleep.”  
Violet nodded. How was she supposed to do that when everything was going crazy? Was she really allowed to relax? Could anyone afford to relax when such evil plagued the galaxy? “Thanks.”  
“Yeah. I gotta go for a dream recording. Tell me how it goes.”  
“I will. Also… do you have any idea why Kel-el was up so late last night?”  
“I think he’s probably just stressed with everything that’s happening. His whole world was destroyed a little while ago. Give him some time, I’m sure eventually he'll soften.”  
“I doubt it,” Violet sighed.  
“You’d be surprised what people hide beneath their stoic masks.”  
The girls went on their ways, and Shrinking Violet found herself roaming all corners of the ship, finding new areas she hadn’t seen before. She stopped by the glass windows and stared out into the endless galaxy. The dark, starry unknown. She pressed her hand to the glass and watched the nothingness. It felt peaceful, in an odd way. To stand there and stare at her reflection in the glass, to watch the faint outlines of planets and twinkling stars. She thought about how beautiful it all was. How much she wished she could protect it. But how could she help when all she could do was shrink? Shrink and apparently not sleep?  
She slid down against the glass and pulled her knees to her chest, fidgeting with her ring. She slipped it from her finger and examined the yellow L. Legion. She may have felt inadequate at times, but she was legion. She was something more than just a quiet bystander. She was Salu Digby, but also Shrinking Violet. She remembered auditioning. Her lipstick was just as black and her eyes still as heavily lined, but she had been smaller. Even smaller than she was now. She had dressed herself darkly out of a desire to be seen, to be dramatic, to emphasize she was more than a cute little girl. To take some of the ferocity inside of her and show it on the outside.  
She shrunk, and at first they weren't all that impressed. “What can you really do with that?” Cosmic Boy had said. And then she fought. She fought and she destroyed machines from the inside out. And then they had no question that she was legion material. She could be a secret weapon. She was small, cute, but that was her disguise. The most threatening of beasts came inside the sweetest of faces.  
As a child, she had been so quiet. Horribly timid to the point of exhaustion. People had always trampled her in the hallways. Not even just in the hallways. Wherever she went, she was practically stepped on. She was small even for an Imskan, and it felt like she was invisible. That's where the shrinking came in handy. She could just hide, run away from those who ran into her and pushed her aside. She would hide no longer, she decided one day. That was the day she decided to use her powers for something more. The day she began training, learning, evolving. The day she learned to really take pride in herself.  
She had come a long way since then, but still, it stung. It stung when Brainy underestimated her, when people forgot her, when she was reminded of her overwhelming childhood. But she proved herself again and again. She had shown him that day what she was made of. She had shown that irritating android that he was wrong, for once. And now he had softened to her, even smiled around her like her presence was worth something. How quickly she could change people’s minds.  
She didn't really find him irritating. If anything, he intrigued her in a different way from Kel-el or any of the other legionnaires. She didn't quite understand it yet. She just wanted to figure him out, as she did with everyone she met. Find the core. Find what he really valued, beyond the snarky arrogance and often dull lecturing.  
She always did that. Searched so deep inside, avoiding the outer layers. She did it when she shrunk down, she did it when she met someone new.  
She slipped her ring back on her finger, pulled herself up. She decided to go check on him and see what he was doing. She walked up to his door and rapped her knuckles lightly.  
“Who is it?”  
She heard him from inside.  
“It’s Shrinking Violet.”  
“It’s open.”  
She walked in, found him sitting in his chair and reading a book. His fluffy blonde tufts of hair stuck up in a messy cowlick. It was cute.  
“Is there something you needed?” He asked without looking up. His magenta, robotic eyes darted over the pages with such speed and focus Violet was surprised he still managed to stay in reality. They were a pretty color, and a pretty shape.  
“Nothing I needed… Just wanted to ask how the mission went.”  
“It was alright. A little rough at the start, I got shot a few times but I managed to regenerate quickly enough to keep fighting. Also Lightning Lad blocked them off while I healed.”  
“Are you okay?”  
“Of course. Why would I not be? Do I appear injured to you? Also, don't blame yourself because I know you will probably suggest that it would not have happened if you had been there, which is untrue. It is fine and I can handle myself.”  
“O-okay.”  
How did he stay so unfazed by things? How did look so absorbed in his book while he so easily carried out their conversation? She wanted him to look at her.  
“Are you still having trouble with sleep?”  
He actually looked up this time, his eyes piercing light in the dark room. His tone changed from lecturing to something warmer.  
“Sort of. Dream girl said it could be from a lot of things. Maybe I'm just stressed.”  
“I figured. We didn't want to disturb you and Kel-el said you were pretty dead so it was probably better that you stayed here.”  
“Yeah… Well… Goodnight Brainy. Thanks for letting me sleep.”  
She didn't hear if he said goodnight or not, but she left the room and went down to the lab to try and compose some kind of sleep powder.  
She used melatonin, careful not to use too much. In her past experience, large doses of melatonin made her so drowsy when she woke up it was as if she hadn’t slept at all. That defeated the whole purpose.  
She mixed the melatonin with a few rare sleep inducing minerals found across the galaxies, being careful to only put a small pinch of each ingredient. She added some pollen from a flower that helped you sleep when brewed into a tea. When she was done with her concoction, she put it in a test tube and labeled it “sleeping powder”. She would test it at some point… was now a good time? It might mess with her even more. While pondering this, she decided to make some tea and go to the recreation room to see what people were doing.  
She found Timber Wolf and Lightning Lad playing ping pong while Phantom girl scrolled the internet. They were wearing casual clothes instead of their usual uniforms.  
“Hey Violet. Wanna 1v1 me after I beat Timber Wolf?” Lightning Lad asked.  
Timber wolf growled. “You mean after I beat you?”  
“It’s five to five. It could go either way,” Phantom girl said, waving her hand dismissively. “They’re equally matched.  
“Not true at all. I’m so much more skilled, it’s pathetic,” Lightning Lad said.  
“Whatever you have to tell yourself,” Timber Wolf said.  
“You guys are up late,” Shrinking Violet commented.  
“It’s just one of those nights. Need to blow off some steam,” Timber Wolf said.  
“With ping pong?” Shrinking Violet.  
“Try it sometime,” Lightning Lad suggested.  
“Let them have their little bro time. Come sit with me,” Phantom girl said, motioning for her to come sit next to her. Shrinking Violet obeyed, going over to sit with her. Phantom girl was reading celebrity gossip on her screen, with flashy pictures of well dressed aliens Shrinking Violet had never heard of floating in the air.  
“Something I miss while battling evil is being able to dress up really nice and go to events. I haven’t worn a dress in so long,” Phantom girl complained. She flipped her screen to look at aliens in the latest styles of evening gowns. Deep reds speckled with gold dust, with long trains and slinky silhouettes. One of the models wore a huge celestial headdress, with long gold spikes extending in every direction to look like her head was a glowing sun.  
“It looks pretty, but so heavy. So impractical,” Violet noted.  
“If only we had the luxury of being impractical,” Phantom girl whined. “I want it in black.”  
“Black would look nice,” Violet agreed.  
“We’re in the middle of fighting for the future of our galaxy and you guys want to wear dresses?” Lightning lad scoffed.  
“Oh please Garth. Don’t tell me you wouldn’t love to see Saturn girl in something like this,” Phantom girl said, rolling her eyes. “Let a girl dream. You’re playing ping pong, I’m looking at dresses.”  
That seemed to shut him up. Timber wolf grinned at her.  
“It’s 7 to 6 now,” he said. Lightning Lad must have gotten distracted thinking about Saturn girl.  
“Not for long!” Lightning lad laughed, thrusting himself back into the game.  
“So, Violet,” Phantom girl asked. “Do you have any crushes?”  
“Crushes?”  
“Is there anyone who’s caught your attention?”  
“I don’t know. I haven’t really had time to think about it…”  
“I for one, think that Superman is sexy. But then again, who doesn’t?” Phantom girl said. “That’s not really a crush, that’s just having eyes.”  
Violet noticed Timber wolf grimace at this statement. Lightning Lad laughed, scoring another point.  
“I don’t think I like anyone. I don’t have time to think about dating,” she mumbled.  
“Oh you have time. We make time for things we want,” she said.  
“I guess that’s true. Brainy makes time to invent stuff all the time,” she mused.  
Phantom girl’s eyes twinkled work mischief. “That’s right. You spend a lot of time in the lab with our little nerd don’t you?”  
“I wouldn’t say a lot…”  
“Tinya, are you really trying to set Brainy up?” Timber Wolf asked. “I can’t see that happening. He doesn’t know anything about romance besides the chemical equation for love,” Lightning Lad added.  
“Hey, hey, you don’t know that. He’s a very emotive little guy.”  
Violet felt incredibly embarrassed all of a sudden.  
“I doubt he’d see me that way. When we first met he insulted me.”  
“But he respects you now,” Phantom girl added.  
“I don’t know…”  
“Well, if not Brainy, there’s plenty of other eligible men in the legion. We’ll find you someone,” Phantom girl reassured her.  
“Uhh… I think I’m okay, but thanks,” Violet said.  
Her cheeks had grown very warm during the conversation. She felt uncomfortable, and she wasn’t sure why.  
“What about Kel?” Phantom girl suggested.  
“That’s even worse than trying to set Brainy up. That man is just angst and muscle,” Timber Wolf said.  
“He’s too intimidating,” Violet said.  
“But underneath all that hard chiseled muscle could be a soft heart,” Phantom girl said. “Maybe he’s the type to cry during romantic movies. You never know.”  
Timber wolf laughed. He scored another point, causing Lightning Lad to curse.  
“9 to 8,” Timber Wolf said.  
“Yeah yeah whatever. I’m still going to cook you,” Lightning Lad said.  
Lightning Lad scored another point, and then Timber Wolf won the game with 10 points.  
“You got lucky this time,” Lightning Lad said.  
“He says that every time, Phantom Girl whispered.


	2. Chapter Two

Shrinking Violet went back to her room with her tea and her sleeping powder, setting them by her bed. She wanted to shower before trying her invention. She gathered her shower caddy and her towel with her pajamas and headed over to the women’s showers.  
She left her flight ring and clothes in her locker in the women’s bathroom, wrapping herself with her towel. Saturn girl stood by one of the sinks, brushing her teeth in her fuzzy pink bathrobe and matching slippers. Her gold hair was piled up in a towel wrapped around her head, and she had a mint green face mask on her face. She looked like a girl straight out of a spa comercial. A makeup bag sat on the sink in front of her, it looked more like Phantom Girl’s. A tiny ghost decorated the front, and it was monochrome. Other scattered toiletries and products laid around the bathroom, some organized others sprawled out messily. A makeup brush here, a lotion bottle there, a box of tampons sitting in an open locker.  
“Night Salu,” Saturn Girl said after spitting her toothpaste in the sink.  
“Night,” Shrinking Violet responded.  
Saturn girl left the bathroom and Shrinking Violet entered the shower area. She hung her towel on the hook outside her shower and started the water, shivering. As the water warmed up, the shower filled with heavenly steam and the fresh floral scent of her shampoo and body wash. The warmth of the water on her skin helped her to relax, loosening her muscles and helping to clear her head. She exhaled and let herself let go. Lathering herself up with her lavender body wash, she began humming to herself. The sound echoed in the room, but she didn’t mind. No one else was there to hear her.  
Despite the issue of her insomnia, and the whole Imperiex thing, she was happy. If she didn’t think too much about either of those things. She enjoyed being part of the legion, she enjoyed belonging somewhere.  
When she finished showering, she wrapped herself up in her purple towel and went over to the lockers.  
Scanning her locker, she realized that she must have dropped her pajamas somewhere in the hallway.  
Panicking, she looked across the room. Her pajamas were on the ground, wet and smudged with dirt.  
She’d have to walk back to her room in her towel.  
The thought of it mortified her. What if she were to run into a male legionaire?  
She wasn’t insecure about her body, but she certainly felt shy about being exposed to other people. She looked around to see if there were spare clothes somewhere to throw on, but she saw nothing. Just great. She took a deep breath, picking up her dirty, wet pajamas and placing them on top of her shower caddy with her other stuff.  
Time to sneak back to her room as fast as possible.  
She had her dark purple slippers, at least. She snuck around the halls in her skimpy towel, desperately trying to avoid running into anyone. Everything was fine until she reached her bedroom door and she heard a voice calling her name.  
“Vi!”  
She froze, cheeks burning and heart pounding. No...Why did it have to be him?  
“I got something for you.”  
She turned around closely, pale white cheeks the color of Superman’s cape.  
Brainy stood in front of her, unfazed by her nakedness. He was still in his uniform, but he looked a bit more disheveled than usual.  
“Oh uh- that’s nice- what is it?” She stuttered, clutching at her towel. She pulled it up farther over her chest.  
“I know you’ve been having a lot of trouble sleeping, and you’ve been trying to make something to help. I found something that will help you,” he said.  
“Th-thanks. What is it?”  
Could he not see how embarrassed she was? For someone so smart, he was oblivious. His eyes were wide and curious, and he seemed to be taking her in. It wasn’t a lustful look, or a look of disgust. It was simply… curious. Of course, he would look at her like he would look at some new creature he’d discovered to study. She almost rolled her eyes, but she was too mortifed.  
“I found you a flower,” he said, holding it up in his hands. It was a small black flower, with tiny specks of silver dusting the petals. A tiny yellow moon shaped design sat on the end of each petal.  
“I already used some pollen from the lunar flower.”  
“I don’t think the lunar flower will work for you. It’s so potent, its effects would be dramatic on your small frame. It’s meant in small doses for men four times your size. Even a small sampling would cause you to sleep for days.”  
“Are you sure?”  
“Of course I’m sure. The shinerite flower will be gentler, trust me. This will help you. Just add it to your drink,” he said. “It will diffuse naturally.”  
“Aren’t those rare? How did you get one?” She asked.  
“I flew out and found one for you last week. It bloomed a few minutes ago,” he said.  
She had noticed an unusual plant in the lab, but she hadn’t paid close attention to it.  
“You didn’t have to do that….”  
“It was nothing. Don’t worry about it.”  
“Okay… thank you,” she said, using one hand to take it and the other to hold her towel in place.  
“I hope it helps you,” he said earnestly.  
“So do I. I should-I should go- thanks for bringing it over…”  
“Of course. Anything to help you, Vi,” he said, smiling.  
This just made her redder.  
“Thanks. Goodnight,” she said, opening her door.  
“Goodnight,” he said.  
She shut the door and set the flower down before she collapsed on her bed in embarrassment.  
Phantom Girl would never stop teasing her if she knew about this. The idea of Brainy bringing her a flower was romantic in concept, though not as much in practice.  
Why Brainy? Why not anyone else? At least he didn’t look at her creepily, or make the situation more awkward. She felt horrified, yet strangely disappointed at the same time. As much as she didn’t want to be exposed, a tiny part of her wanted to be seen. Admired. Not unoticed. Sighing, she dressed herself in an old nightgown and put the flower in the tea, leaving her powder concoction in the testube. She let the flower float and soak for a few minutes before she drank it and then crawled into bed.


End file.
